From the moment he arrived in Oregon, Elliott Dubreuil felt drawn to its dry side. The Louisiana native moved to Bend in 1993. He picked the small town to avoid the rain and still fulfill a job requirement to live in the Pacific Northwest. And the more the outdoor gear sales rep drove Eastern...

Oregon Desert Trail Coordinator Renee Patrick shares her exploratory packraft alternate on the Oregon Desert Trail (ODT) in the Owyhee Canyonlands. Getting to the West Little Owyhee River where Oregon Desert Trail Section 21 begins is a logistical challenge. I had arranged for a variety of rides to get from Bend to the...

Carol Savonen is a member of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a group formed initially by older women to champion America’s public lands. Here, she shares the experience the Broads had on a recent trip to the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. This past June, 25 Oregon members of the Great Old Broads for...

ONDA summer intern Anne White has spent many hours over the past few months in southeastern Oregon monitoring sagebrush habitat. She and her fellow intern collected data to help determine the health of the habitat for Greater sage-grouse. When I tell people I am doing Greater sage-grouse monitoring for my internship with ONDA, their...

“What I enjoy most about the Oregon desert are the wide open spaces, it’s so fascinating. Since I grew up in Switzerland, I find it very exotic. I’ve always been places with houses and fences, and the desert is a different world; I thrive in that. It can make you feel very small...